The tents installed outside UM Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown and the emergency departments at UM Shore Medical Centers at Chestertown, Dorchester and Easton may soon be in use for patient assessment, Dr. Walter Atha, regional director, Emergency Medicine for UM Shore Regional Health has announced.

According to Dr. Atha, depending on patient volumes at each of the four locations, patients presenting for emergency care may be directed to the tents, where they will be evaluated by UM Shore Medical Group providers.

“Care provided in the tents does not include testing for COVID-19, as UM SRH is not designated as an outpatient testing site,” says Dr. Atha. “Our intended purpose for these tents is to reduce the possibility of exposure to COVID-19 among patients and their attending family members as well as our staff.”

Dr. Atha further recommends that anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms should first contact his or her primary care provider; if the provider indicates that immediate evaluation is needed, go to the nearest emergency department. “Staying home, practicing social distancing, wearing a mask if you must go out, and washing your hands frequently remain the best strategies for maintaining your own health and that of your loved ones, and for reducing community spread,” he says.

For more information about UM Shore Regional Health’s response to COVID-19, visit umms.org/shore/coronavirus.

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

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Regional Health has announced a reduction in diagnostic imaging services for the time being due to COVID-19. According to Dr. Kim Oster, MD, president, Shore Radiology, and Dr. Dale Johnson, MD, chairman,Shore Regional Health Radiology Departments, and in keeping with the directive of the Secretary of Health of the State of Maryland, as of March 24, 2020, all elective/non-urgent imaging at all facilities are postponed and only critical imaging is being performed.

Critical imaging services include trauma, oncology, infection, ischemia, acute bleeding, and acute neurologic changes. Other requests are reviewed by the imaging team on a case by case basis.

“We are calling patients with appointments scheduled in the next several weeks to inform them of this change, but we also want potential ‘walk-ins’ to know that their test will not be conducted at this time so they will not make an unnecessary trip,” says Penny Olivi, director Diagnostic Imaging for UM Shore Regional Health. “We expect to begin accepting appointment requests for elective/non-urgent imaging in mid-April. If you have a question about your appointment or whether or not an imaging location is we open, please call 410-822-1000, extension 2600.”

In addition, the Diagnostic & Imaging Center has cancelled Saturday hours until further notice.

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

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Nurses at UM Shore Regional Health recently wrapped up a collection drive to benefit the Neighborhood Service, Center, Inc. (NSC, Inc.). Located on Port Street in Easton, NSC is a community action agency whose mission is to provide services and assistance to low-income families and elderly residents in Talbot County.

“We received a wonderful turnout for donations to the Neighborhood Service Center,” says Laura Jackson, Global Council chair. “From the Council, we were able to donate kitchen supplies, paper goods, canned goods, blankets, children’s toys and other household items. I am so proud to be apart of an organization that gives back to the community we serve.”

Members of the Shore Regional Health nursing team areshown their many donations to benefit Talbot County’s Neighborhood Service Center.

“We so appreciate the generosity of the nursing team at Shore Regional Health in collecting and donating so many useful items for the families and individuals served by the Neighborhood Service Center,” says Marilyn Neal, NSC, Inc. executive director. “These donations will all be put to good use.”

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

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University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s Palliative Care Program recently announced the addition of nurse practitioner Christina Ball, MS, AGACNP-BC, CNRN, to its team. Ball will provide palliative care support to patients in the UM SRH Palliative Care Program, which works collaboratively with a patient’s primary care and specialists’ team to relieve the stress and symptoms of serious or chronic illness.

“Christina is passionate about helping patients and their loved ones manage chronic or serious illness and maximize their quality of life,” says Lakshmi Vaidyanathan, MD, medical director, UM Shore Regional Palliative Care. “Her outstanding experience, leadership and credentials, as well as her familiarity with UM Shore Regional Health, make her an excellent addition to the Palliative Care team.”

Ball comes to UM SRH from Bayleigh Chase in Easton, where she was a nurse practitioner. She also has held positions as a nurse practitioner in Peninsula Regional Medical Center’s Neurology Department, was the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Comprehensive Stroke Center Coordinator in Baltimore, and moved up from staff nurse to clinical coordinator to neuroscience specialist with University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, where she worked for more than 10 years. In 2012, she was recognized as the recipient of the UM SRH Outstanding Achievement in Professional Nursing Award.

“Helping patients and their families manage a chronic or serious illness will help increase the patient’s quality of life, reduce hospitalizations and minimize caregiver strain. I am looking forward to helping patients navigate the often scary uncertainty of serious or chronic illness and provide them with comfort and high quality care, close to home,” Ball said.

Ball received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Stevenson University and her Master of Science in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner from the University of Maryland Baltimore, where she was a clinical nurse specialist on the Trauma/Critical Care unit.

For more information or to request a palliative care consult, please contact the UM Shore Regional Palliative Care Program at 410-820-4434.

About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

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Topics include life insurance and retirement plan designations, the SECURE Act and Planning with IRAs, titling of real property & financial accounts, and retirement risks. There will be additional time allocated for Q & A.

For more information about the seminar or to register, please contact Janet Andrews at (410) 822-1000, extension 5792 or email janet@umm.edu. This event is free to all attendees; pre-registration is required. Light refreshments will be served and free parking will be available in the parking lot adjacent to the Health Education Center.

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Talbot Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

On Thursday March 5, Jim Brighton will give a talk about the Maryland Biodiversity Project.

The Maryland Biodiversity Project (MBP) is a non-profit organization focused on cataloging all the living things of Maryland. The goal is to promote education and conservation by helping to build a vibrant nature study community. The project was started in June 2012 by Bill Hubick and Jim Brighton. So far, the project has cataloged over 18,000 species of plants, animals, insects and fungi. The MBP is a citizen scientist program; more than 1,000 individuals have submitted data and pictures. In 2017, Mr. Brighton received the Chesapeake Champion Award, a yearly award bestowed by Horn Point Laboratory. During his talk, Mr. Brighton will focus on some of the amazing species that can be found in Maryland. He will also show the audience how they might be part of this growing nature community.

This talk is part of the 21st Annual Kent Horticulture Lecture Series organized by the University of Maryland Extension in Kent County. The program will be held at 10:00am at the Chestertown Town Hall, 2nd floor, 118 North Cross Street, Chestertown, MD 21620. This event is free of charge. For more information, please contact Sabine Harvey, 410-778-1661 or sharvey1@umd.edu

The University of Maryland, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources programs are open to all and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status, genetic information, or political affiliation, or gender identity and expression.

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Inside the music room at St. Michaels High School, all eyes are on Amy Effler as she leads her chorus class in preparing for an upcoming concert. The sopranos, along with the altos and basses, keep singing a refrain from a song called “Believe” that includes the line, “There’s no time to waste, there’s so much to celebrate.”

Those words seem all too fitting, echoing in a classroom where the much-beloved teacher continues to celebrate being alive. At the beginning of each school year, this teacher stands in front of her classes and shares her personal story. “I tell them the truth,” says Effler. She goes into detail about the summer of 2016 and how at the age of 28, she had a seizure that changed everything.

Effler was then the epitome of good health and fitness, running six miles a day and drinking lots of water. So what could have caused the seizure? That’s what the emergency department team at University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton wanted to know. Multiple tests, including an MRI, were quickly ordered. Then the answer was known as tests revealed a sizeable mass on the left side of her brain.

Within 24 hours of the diagnosis, Effler and her husband, Kris Effler, were introduced to UM Shore Medical Group neurosurgeon Khalid Kurtom, MD. “I said to her, ‘We now know what caused the seizure, but we don’t know what this mass is. I can’t yet tell you how aggressive the tumor is. We can go in and take a piece of it to biopsy or we can go in and try to take it all out,’” explains Dr. Kurtom.

Effler had to make a fast decision and opted for the best chance of survival, which meant removing the whole tumor. But this was not your typical operation because she needed to be awake during the brain surgery. Dr. Kurtom recalls what he said to Effler, “The safest way to do this is while you are awake so I can actually test you as the operation proceeds, figure out where the functional areas are and get close to them without damaging them. This is very risky – even if I do an amazing operation, your brain will be stunned. That means you are going to wake up without being able to talk or move the right side of your body.”

He adds, “It is very hard to describe to a patient what this will mean — it is one thing to talk about it, but it is another to actually experience it.”

Dr. Khalid Kurtom and former patient, Amy Effler.

As expected, after a 5-hour surgery, which Effler does not remember, she could not walk or talk. “My whole right side was paralyzed. My whole language center of the brain was wiped out, so I had to relearn how to add and subtract and pretty much every last thing,” she says.

Effler underwent a few weeks of inpatient rehab in the Requard Center for Acute Rehabilitation in the Easton hospital, followed by months of outpatient rehabilitation, including arduous physical, occupational and speech therapy. She also took oral chemotherapy and had many weeks of radiation therapy to ensure the best outcome.

“I was ignorant of how hard I was going to have to work to recover, but the team at Shore Regional Health was awesome and so supportive and helped me along the way,” says Effler. “I also couldn’t have recovered as well as I have without the love and support from my husband, Kris. He is the best team-mate in the world. I also was so encouraged by Talbot County Schools Superintendent Dr. Kelly Griffith, who took the time to send me flowers on multiple occasions. The birthday video that was made by the St. Michaels school staff and students was the best present I had ever received, and motivated me to work even harder. I have to give many people credit. There are too many to list!”

“I don’t think she knows that during her recovery, her husband would send me videos of her. I probably have 20 videos of her lifting weights and making amazing progress,” says Dr. Kurtom.

As a music teacher and singer, Effler knows some tricks of the trade that worked to her advantage. Every night, she would lie in bed and practice building her vocal cords with a clicking in her throat. “They said speech would be the last thing to come back, but for me, it was actually the first thing to come back,” explains Effler.

Now almost three and a half years past that initial seizure and brain surgery, Effler is still recovering. She walks with a slight limp and her right hand continues to be impaired. “I learned to write with my left hand, but am not very good at it. I also play the piano with one hand, and I am better with one hand than most people are with two,” she says with a laugh. She can poke fun, but there are still days when she is quite frustrated because the challenges of recovery continue. “I accept things, but I am never going to stop trying to be as strong as possible.”

Effler worked so hard with one goal always top of mind. She wanted to get back to the classroom – and to the annual slate of concerts and musical plays she directs for St. Michaels’ elementary, middle and high schools — so she could “make great music with the students.” After her one-year absence, the Talbot County School System welcomed her back with open arms, as did her students. So yes, there is so much to celebrate!

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

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The Birthing Center at University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton is bringing the joy of a baby’s birth to patients, staff and visitors throughout the hospital by activating “Operation: Lullaby.” Johannes Brahms’ “The Lullaby” will play over the loudspeaker throughout the Easton hospital, during the hours of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., every time a baby is born.

First published in 1868, “The Lullaby” was dedicated to Brahms’s friend, Bertha Faber, on the occasion of the birth of her second son. “The Lullaby” was first performed in public on December 22, 1869, in Vienna, Austria, by Louise Dustmann (singer) and Clara Schumann (piano).

Luanne Satchell, nurse manager, Women’s and Children’s Health Services, far right, stands with team members of the Birthing Center at UM SMC.

According to Luanne Satchell, nurse manager, Women’s and Children’s Health Services, “When you hear the lullaby, it is within minutes of the birth of a child. We really didn’t realize the impact this program would have on patients and other team members, but it’s been a really positive addition to the Birthing Center and the hospital as a whole. When you think about it, we are celebrating the joy of birth with our entire hospital community. People have sought our team members out to report that it really puts a smile on their faces and we couldn’t be happier.”

About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

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Members of the Rotary Club of Easton, Maryland, District 7630, visited the University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton in January to deliver coloring books and crayons to patients.

Rotary Club 7630 members Hugh Dawkins and George Hatcher, as well as Rotarian and hospital volunteer Ken Sadler, dressed as “Dr. Goodwrench,” delivered coloring book and crayon packages for adults and children in the Pediatric and Women’s Services units, as well as the Requard Center for Acute Rehabilitation as part of a community outreach initiative. Additional crayon and coloring book packages will go to the Emergency Department for pediatric patients and family members of patients. Patients were grateful for the visit and the gifts.

Dawkins said, “Rotary, an international service organization, works in communities to provide ‘Service above Self,’ and always wants to bring joy to our neighbors. This is just a way to tell people Rotary Club members care.”

Dr. Goodwrench visits patients, loved ones and staff throughout the hospital as part of the Caring Clowns initiative to provide support, compassion and humor to those in the hospital. The Caring Clowns have been active in the hospital for more than a decade.

About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Talbot Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here